The UCF Knights football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing The University of Central Florida in the Big 12 Conference. Since the establishment of the football program in 1979, the Knights have played in thirteen bowl games. UCF has appeared in thirteen different bowl games, with multiple appearances in the St. Petersburg (3), Liberty Bowl (2), Gasparilla Bowl (2), and the Fiesta Bowl (2). The Knights also played in the Hawai'i Bowl, the Cure Bowl, and the Peach Bowl which was a part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). With their most recent win in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl, UCF has an overall bowl record of 6–9 (.400). They are 2-1 in BCS bowl games.

UCF's first bowl game came during the 2005 season when, under the leadership of second year head coach George O'Leary, the team underwent the fourth-best turnaround in NCAA history in his second year with the team.[1] Before O'Leary, UCF had not made a postseason appearance since joining the FBS. As an FCS program, the Knights made the 1990 and 1993 playoffs, and were picked as the preseason No. 1 team to start the 1994 season.[2] Since 2004, the Knights have made 15 postseason appearances in the years 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Key

Bowl games

List of bowl games showing bowl played in, score, date, season, opponent, stadium, location, attendance and head coach
# Bowl Score Date Season Opponent Stadium Location Attendance Head coach
1 Hawaii Bowl L 49–48OT December 24, 2005 2005 Nevada Wolf Pack Aloha Stadium Honolulu 26,254 George O'Leary
2 Liberty Bowl L 10–3 December 29, 2007 2007 Mississippi State Bulldogs Liberty Bowl Memphis 63,816 George O'Leary
3 St. Petersburg Bowl L 45–24 December 19, 2009 2009 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Tropicana Field St. Petersburg 28,793 George O'Leary
4 Liberty Bowl W 10–6 December 31, 2010 2010 Georgia Bulldogs Liberty Bowl Memphis 51,231 George O'Leary
5 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl W 38–17 December 21, 2012 2012 Ball State Cardinals Tropicana Field St. Petersburg 21,759 George O'Leary
6 Fiesta Bowl W 52–42 January 1, 2014 2013 Baylor Bears University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale 65,172 George O'Leary
7 St. Petersburg Bowl L 34–27 December 26, 2014 2014 NC State Wolfpack Tropicana Field St. Petersburg 26,675 George O'Leary
8 Cure Bowl L 31–13 December 17, 2016 2016 Arkansas State Red Wolves Camping World Stadium Orlando 27,213 Scott Frost
9 Peach Bowl W 34–27 January 1, 2018 2017 Auburn Tigers Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta 71,109 Scott Frost
10 Fiesta Bowl L 40–32 January 1, 2019 2018 LSU Tigers State Farm Stadium Glendale 57,246 Josh Heupel
11 Gasparilla Bowl W 48–25 December 23, 2019 2019 Marshall Thundering Herd Raymond James Stadium Tampa 28,987 Josh Heupel
12 Boca Raton Bowl L 49–23 December 22, 2020 2020 BYU Cougars FAU Stadium Boca Raton 6,000 Josh Heupel
13 Gasparilla Bowl W 29–17 December 23, 2021 2021 Florida Gators Raymond James Stadium Tampa 63,669 Gus Malzahn
14 Military Bowl L 13–30 December 28, 2022 2022 Duke Blue Devils Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis 17,974 Gus Malzahn
15 Gasparilla Bowl L 17-30 December 22, 2023 2023 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Raymond James Stadium Tampa 30,281 Gus Malzahn

See also

References

General:

In-text:

  1. ^ UCF Football Coach O’Leary Signs 10-Year Contract Extension
  2. ^ "Division I–AA Football Comes to Orlando". University of Central Florida Athletic Association. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
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